SLATE: Basketball Preview – Bring On The Cats

basketball

This week was Big 12 Basketball Media Days in Kansas City as we neared the start of the basketball season.

The Kansas State women's basketball team enters the season with high expectations. She is initially picked as the presumptive favorite to win the league and has the preseason player of the year in Ayoka Lee. But the MittieCats are much more than just their standout center, as a bevy of talented, experienced guards prevent opposing defenses from crashing deep and make the offense even more versatile.

Despite a difficult 2023/24 season, Jerome Tang is heading into this season with a smile with a revamped squad led by star transfer Coleman Hawkins. Hawkins starred under Brad Underwood at Illinois for four years before deciding to enter the transfer portal this offseason to secure a big payday and be better suited to raise his profile before heading to the Changed professional ranks. But it's not just the transfers, as freshman guard David Castillo brings maturity beyond his years to the program and is expected to be an important cog early in his career.

football

The SoccerCats season came to an end last night, ending without a single Big 12 win. K-State fell 2-0 to KU in Manhattan and finished the season 3-12-3 overall and 0-9-2 in Big 12 play. For the first time since 2018, K-State failed to win a conference game.

There's not much more to say about the Cats at this point. The Cats' highlight came in 2022, when they went 6-10-3 overall and 2-5-2 in Big 12 play en route to their first postseason appearance. But last season was also a three-win campaign, one of them in Big 12 play, and the program's momentum is headed in the wrong direction.

volleyball

The VolleyCats are also back on the battle bus. After rattling off three straight wins, the Cats have lost two straight, albeit against ranked teams. On Thursday night, it was the #21 Utah Utes who defeated the Wildcats in four sets at Morgan Family Arena. The Cats won the first set 25-21, but despite a strong offensive performance from the Cats, only Utah trailed after that (22-25, 24-26, 19-25). The loss drops K-State to 6-11 on the season and 4-4 in Big 12 play, and the Cats are in for another tough matchup on Sunday when they travel to Ames to take on the Cyclones at noon.

football

While the Sunflower Showdown may not be going the way the Wildcats have so far in the 2024-25 school year, the Wildcats football team should rise to the challenge of reversing that trend when it takes on KU tonight at Bill Snyder Family Stadium. 7:00 p.m., ESPN2 if you're not at the stadium.

Despite the Jayhawks' struggles, the Wildcats are still taking this game seriously, as they should. Despite struggling to enter a season with high expectations, KU has some dangerous weapons on offense and some key players on defense that can cause fits. The Squawks ended their five-game losing streak with a comfortable 42-14 win over Houston at Arrowhead last week, although Houston has plenty of problems of its own.

We'll have your game thread for today's game here and over on Discord as K-State looks to extend its winning streak in the series to 16 games.